Senators’ Bipartisan Bill would Apply Buy America Rules to All Taxpayer-Funded Infrastructure and Public Works Projects

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mike Braun (R-IN), Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) today announced they will be introducing legislation this week to apply Buy America rules to all taxpayer-funded infrastructure and public works projects. Currently, Buy America rules have not been fully implemented with respect to all federal programs that provide grants for the construction of infrastructure. This means American-made iron, steel and manufactured products are required for some infrastructure projects, but not all. When Chinese- or Russian- made steel and other products are used instead of American products, it steals jobs from U.S. workers.

The Senators’ bipartisan bill, the Build America, Buy America Act, would implement Buy America rules across the board – ensuring that American taxpayer dollars are used to buy American-made iron, steel and manufactured products for any federally funded infrastructure projects.

“We cannot allow foreign companies to continue to undercut our domestic industries. Without Buy America rules, we are allowing manufacturing to go elsewhere at the expense of taxpayers,” said Brown. “It’s simple: American tax dollars should go toward American-made projects that support American jobs. Period.”

“In Indiana, Made-in-America is more than a slogan: More Hoosiers are employed in manufacturing than in any other industry,” said Braun. “U.S. infrastructure projects ought to support workers and create jobs in South Bend and Gary, not in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.”

“American workers make some of the best products in the world. We should be doing everything we can to expand opportunities for them to build our roads and bridges,” said Peters, a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. “I am proud to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation that would close existing loopholes and encourage the use of American-made materials in infrastructure projects.”

“I’m proud to lead this legislation with Senator Brown because when the government spends American taxpayer money on an infrastructure project, it’s common sense that the materials used in that project should be purchased from those same taxpayers making those materials in the United States. We have the world’s best workers making the best materials we need right here at home,” said Portman.

Because Buy America rules have not been fully implemented for all federal infrastructure programs, some foreign materials can used to construct many taxpayer-funded highways, roads, bridges and water and energy infrastructure projects. Brown, Braun, Peters and Portman believe these products should instead be produced in the U.S.

Take for example the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Buy America requirements. The Buy America requirements for that agency have been applied only to iron and steel used for structures. However, the FHWA estimates these structures account for less than 5 percent of the costs of a typical highway project. That means the vast majority of materials used to construct federally assisted highways, roads, and bridges do not have to be produced in the U.S.

The Build America, Buy America Act fixes these loopholes and ensures the Buy America statute actually results in the purchase of American-made iron, steel and manufactured products for all federally funded infrastructure projects.

Last Congress, Brown introduced bipartisan legislation to apply Buy America rules to all taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects, and led the fight to restore Buy America provisions to water and sewer infrastructure projects as well. He also unveiled a blueprint last Congress to invest $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure, which includes several Buy America provisions.

Brown and Portman also joined their colleagues Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to reintroduce their BuyAmerican.gov Act this Congress. This legislation would establish a centralized online hub to increase transparency and ensure federal agencies prioritize the purchase of American-made goods in compliance with existing law. Under current law, federal agencies may use domestic content waivers to Buy American laws to purchase goods or services from foreign companies only in certain circumstances: for example, when an American-made good is unavailable or will significantly increase the cost of a product. However, federal agencies overuse this waiver authority and there is currently no easily-accessible government-wide system to track the use and abuse of these waivers by federal agencies.